Toothpaste Complex
by Ourletters
Summary: The story is based on two characters, Cordelia and Erick. There are two point of views, Cordelia's point of view and Erick's point of view. This story is actually written by two authors, I do the Erick's point of view and my girlfriend does the Cordelia's point of view. And yes my girlfriend is taller than me. No future planning for the story, bucket-loads of randomness. Enjoy ;)
1. Chapter 1

Cordelia's point of view

Toothpaste, everything started with toothpaste.

I was walking down the halls of my shopping centre, searching for my favourite brand of toothpaste, when lo and behold, it was the only brand they didn't have. So I decided to get the next best thing. I started opening the caps of different toothpastes, because in my opinion, toothpaste is supposed to smell clean and fresh, there is no point in buying it if it doesn't.

When surely enough, someone bumped into me and I squeeze the current bottle of toothpaste all over the unsuspecting person. I began muttering and panicking until I looked up at their face…. and nearly swooned.

Back to reality, I looked at the mess I caused and sighed. I don't mean the normal sigh, I mean I the deep, very loud, grunt-like unflattering sigh.

'Well that happened' The guy was looking at me in the 'you are going to pay for the cleaning bill' way.

'ummm, right, how about this: I give you a 20, I'll pay for the, um, empty toothpaste bottle, and we call it even?' I gave him a cheshire cat grin. If he doesn't think I'm crazy yet, he definitely will now.

Scratch that, he grinned as well. Ok, so maybe he doesn't think I'm crazy if he returned my giant grin. Interesting guy, and very handsome, I would love it if he asked me out, despite the fact he's got white paste running down his shirt.

Eh, well, a girl can dream. We parted ways and will never see each other again.

Anyway, back to that toothpaste, I need my teeth clean and fresh for my start at high-school tomorrow.

And boy, was I going to have a déjà vu of my life at school tomorrow when my alarm clock didn't go off and I decided to brush my teeth at school, only to bump into and replay the exact situation with the same mystery man as today.

Add a few alien obsessed teenagers, a creepy lunch lady, an extremely short headmaster, a giant library, a secret garden, and plenty of drama, and you have my life for the next 3 years. Doesn't that sound like fun?


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2(Erick's point of view)- #Beginnings#

Now I can finally rest, I feel like my body's falling apart. It's 11pm and now I can finally lay down in my bed, close my eyes and rearrange my thoughts on what happened today.  
In fact that's what I usually do, it makes me feel more comfortable.

Today's my first gym day, even if I've played basketball and done jogging every morning I haven't thought about going to the gym, until today, a friend of mine asked me to give it a try, I did, and ouch.

Everything went normal today before I walked in to the shopping centre which is not that far from my place and started searching for a new toothpaste, I'm tired of the flavour the last one turned to have.

While preparing myself for a long and agonising toothpaste search I thought to ask this pretty, tall girl which was also looking for a magic teeth cleaner to give me a few different toothpastes from the top shelf.I was quite debating with myself if I should ruin my pride and show this girl how useless I can be and how dumb I look asking for her help. Me being shorter than her.

But hey, what do I have to lose, I need to get back home, she doesn't know me anyway.

And right when I was about to ask her, she suddenly turned around and I accidentally bumped into her and *SQUUUISHH*

She squeezed the toothpaste which she was holding right on me, more exactly on my T-shirt.

[Me]-.. I'm sorry I just... I couldn't move my mouth anymore, by the moment she was looking at me I was diving into her beautiful eyes. We both starred at each other for a few seconds.  
[Misterious girl]-... No, no, I'm sorry it's my fault..

And afer she apologized I came to my senses and remembered that I'm covered in toothpaste!

[Misterious girl]-Ummm, right, how about this I give you a 20, I'll pay for the, um, empty toothpaste bottle, and we call it even?

I replied to her with a cold "Sounds good enough" answer followed by a small grinn, thinking about the "not short at all" road to the nearest washhouse.

She seemes cute and ... clumsy, but those eyes...

Enough with that, now I'm in my bed and tomorrow I'm starting high school. I heard rumors of high school being terrible but hey, how bad can it be?

#Next day

*High school bell ringing*

Here I am, in high school, trying not to do anything stupid.

After the new high school year festivity, we were assigned, one by one to our classes.

I assure you the creepiest feeling you can experience is the one coming from the smell of a new school, seeesh..

I arrived in the class and, surprisingly there were only a few students, a few moments after, the whole class was full. After a few minutes our teacher comes aswell and starts presenting himself when sudently *BANG, the door is opened by a tall and very familiar girl with an incredible strength.

...  
wait..

SHE IS THE TOOTHPASTE GIRL!

What? There's no way she is the same age as me, she is taller than me and the majority of my class!

[Teacher]- Come on in, I don't have all day.  
[Toothpaste girl]-Yes,..umm yes I'm so very sorry!  
[Teacher]- So, welcome to the Westleaf High school, my name is Keisuke Tadashi and I'll be your english teacher. This is your first year here, more exactly in a high School, so if any of you has any questions please ask. Except my age, if anybody asks about my age he'll leave this class immediately *scary look*

Only now I realized that the toothpaste girl is sitting right next to me. In some way I am relieved, she is the only person I barely know.

[Teacher]-Ok, I told you about me, now it's your turn to tell me something about you, let's start with the person which had more sleep than any of us today.  
-What's your name sleepy head?  
[Toothpaste girl]-Me?  
[Teacher]-Yes, you.  
[Toothpaste girl]-Oh,.umm, my name is Cordelia Smith and I'm 15 years old and I like to learn about many things.  
[Teacher]-Aham, nice to meet you Cordelia, it's good to know there are curious students in my class. Who's next now?

Oh so her name is Cordelia, that means she's not from around here, I'm not from around here either. Since my parents divorced I had to come with my mom in Japan.  
Starting High School is a good opportunity to make some new friends I should...

[Teacher]-Hey! I am talking to you!  
[Me]-... uh, Me? *desoriented*  
[Teacher]-Yes you, the class's thinker.  
[Me]-My name is Erick Johnson, I'm 15 years old and I come from Britain, I like basketball and aviation, sir! *army response*  
[Teacher]-Good, nice to meet you Erick, I hope you'll be thinking about my class from now on.  
[Me]-Yes,..sir.

I already love this teacher..  
After our first "wonderful" class I decided to get acquainted with the rest of my classmates.  
Surprisingly the first person I felt comfortable talking to was Cordelia, I never heard of a name like that, I hope I'll get used to it soon, I do tend to forget new names.

[Cordelia]-Hi my name is Cordelia. *smiles

[Me]-Hi Cordelia my name is Erick. *smiles

[Cordelia]-I saw you yesterday in the shopping centre.

Here we go, come on, rub it in, you're taller than me.. I know you wanna say it..

[Me]-Yes I was searching for a new toothpaste, apparently..  
[Cordelia]-Haha my gosh I'm so sorry for what happened yesterday, I'm quite clumsy sometimes..  
[Me]-Sometimes? *evil smile*

[Cordelia]-Excuse me?  
[Me]-Well you're the one who squished that bottle of toothpaste on my favourite T-shirt and was late for the class and who knows what else you did.  
[Cordelia]-Hey I already apologized for that! It's not my fault that you're shorter than my leg okay?  
[Me]-What.. ?

And while we were almost clashing our foreheads at 2cm distance we sudently looked in each other's eyes and stopped being angry, and then:

[Classmate]-Hey my name is Ryo, what's up?  
[Me]-SHUT UP!  
[Cordelia]-SHUT UP!  
[Ryo]-Ok.., nice to meet you too..  
[Me]-Hmm sory Ryo, nice to meet you, my name is Erick.  
[Cordelia]-And mine is Cordelia.  
[Ryo]-You're not from around here huh?  
[Me]-Well I just came in Japan a few weeks ago, I just happen to know Japanese from my mom.  
[Cordelia]-I am French but I spent a big portion of my life here, therefore I choose to go to this high school.  
[Ryo]-So do you know eachother?  
[Me]-Yes we met yesterday in the shopping centre.  
[Ryo]-Do you want to go with us at the aqua park this week?  
-Me,Kaito,Emi and Kasumi will be there, we'll all get better acquainted, what do you say?  
[Me]-Hmm, I'll come, sounds like fun.  
[Corelia]-Okay I'll come too.  
[Ryo]-Okay then, I got to go, see you tomorrow.

Here I am now, In my cozy bed, my safe haven.  
If high school is going to be like this, how am I going to survive?!  
Well at least I made a few friends today, I wonder how Cordelia is like, I haven't talked to her too much today,  
she seems to be an interesting person.


	3. Chapter 3

Cordelia's point of view

That short idiot from yesterday really set off a fuse in my head. How can a person that short be so annoying and handsome at the same time!? He just had to rub in the fact that I squeezed the entire bottle of toothpaste all over his shirt! And then had the nerve to argue with me! That! That….! CHIBI-CHAN! ARGH!

Anyway, I got to worry about what I'm going to wear to this aqua park.

Should I wear a bikini? But I don't have one, I just have two kinds of one-piece swimsuits. And who am I trying to impress here? Hm?

I arrived at the water park on Saturday morning wearing a short flowy sun-yellow dress, some white sandals, a large white sun hat and my pale blue swimsuit.

I arrived early. So I had a lot of time to kill. I went to look around and who should I find… Mr Shorty!

I slowly walk towards him, taking in what he looks like, and trying to ignore the irrational thoughts of my brain, eg: He looks really good, he's really cute, and so handsome, I think the shortness just adds to his cuteness….and stop

'Hi'

He looks at me and then turns his head to face the other way, hello? What am I? Chopped liver?

'Hi' he responds. I plonk myself down next to him, I'm so lady-like today, aren't I? (note: sarcasm!)

'Early today too?' I ask

'Yeah'

Well…this isn't awkward at all! -_-

'So, do you like swimming?' I try

'…..'

Odd.

'do you swim often?'

'…'

Okay, what is going on?

'ummm, CAN you swim?'

He jumps a tiny bit and then doesn't say anything at all.

BINGO!

'HA! You can't swim! Can you?' I jump up and point at him

He turns to face me now. 'Hey, it's not like I can just pull my top off and dive into the British sea, now can I?'

'Huh?'

'The sea in England is BLOODY FREEZING!'

'oooh…..sorry'

Right, back to where we started AKA: awkward silence.

'Ok, how about this: I teach you to swim?'

He looks at me. 'Really?'

'Sure, why not? It's a good idea no?' I smile at him

He smiles back

'C'est parfait! Allons y!'

The others have arrived now and I wave back at them, then we all get changed and go swimming. True to my word, I teach Erick how to swim, and a few minutes into it, he's got the hang of it so we race each other to the top of the water slide and go down together.

All in all, it's a good day. Erick and I are no longer fighting like cats and dogs, and we might even be friends in the near future. Only one thing worries me: who's Mimi? And why is there a picture of her in Erick's wallet?


	4. Chapter 4

Erick's point of view- #Not enough salt#

A new day at school. While our english teacher is brambling about something I already know,  
I try to think of something to do besides besketball or reading beneath that tree in the schoolyard.

-Hey Erick what are you thinking about now?

He seems to be quite angry.  
Can't a simple student mind his own thoughts?

-I was just thinking about that exercise.

I answer with a very honest looking answer.

-Oh really? Well would you mind continuing it for me?

Haha he tries to defy me. No problem this one is too simple.

-My pleasure.

I go to the whiteboard and finish what he started. Piece of cake.

Why not to bragg a little.

-That was simple.

-Oh really? Well then you'll have a higher level homework from now on.

God damn me and my big mouth.

I go back to my seat, but on my way there I see Cordelia's evil smile.

Since we met at the aqua park, The image of her beautiful yellow dress always comes into my mind!

-What's up genius? *She asks

Hmm interesting. So she is teasing me now. Hasn't she had enough when she found out that I can't swim?

-Don't say anything.

She laughs

-Enjoy your extra homework. Now you'll see how my homework is like. *She points her tongue at me

-Yeah well, I was expecting to get a higher level homework, I can say english is one of my strongest suit.*I say

-Well we have that in common *She happily responds

Suddently our teacher starts yelling:

-Hey you two! Are you done talking?

*Silence*

After class I ask her if she would like to have lunch with me. She responds with a "Yes!" followed by a cute tiny blush.

I hope she is not upset because of my attitude at the aqua park, I prefer a colder climate.

Wait, why do I care? She is just my friend. Am I starting to like her?

While we were discussing about one of her concerts, I tried to grab the salt and because of my clumsiness I grabbed something else. I grabbed her hand while she was trying to get the salt too.

We both jumped a bit and then just looked at each other for a few moments.

Her hand felt so soft.

When sudently.

Ryo came:

-Haha this is quite fast *Says Ryo

Me and Cordelia rapidly answer back

-Oh...no no no... That was just a mistake we were just trying to grab the salt! *I say

-Yeah! I was just going for the salt when... *she follows my answer

-Yeaaah, of course("not so convinced" expression)... Hey you know what? You two should date!

The first reaction is cordelia's, a panicking response:

-What!?

The second reaction is mine, a "poker face" response:

-What?

Yeah that's right! you should totally date!

-Ryo, mind your own bussiness or I'll personally come and kill you with a fork in the middle of the night *I say

-And he's not going to be alone *Cordelia follows my comment with an evil response

*Ryo makes a poker face expression and leaves whispering "Haha they're so gonna date".  
After hearing that me and Cordelia go after our kill.

End of chapter 4


	5. Chapter 5

Cordelia's point of view

I don't know why, but my eyes tend to wonder over to Erick more and more. I used to think he was an infuriating midget, but now….I don't know.

He's gone from impossibly annoying, to impossibly charming. Not that I'll ever let him find out I think that. I'd rather have my teeth pulled out with tweezers than that. -_-

And of course, there are the moments that make me so bloody confused with my feelings for him, for example, yesterday:

'Hey Cordelia, have you seen my maths textbook? I was sure I had it with me when we were in class.'

'Yes I have! Of course I've seen the textbook with the dark blue cover because ALL YOUR BOOKS LOOK EXACTLY THE SAME!'

He smacks his palm on his face. Must have had an _Now it makes sense moment_

I smirk, he sees it.

'Thanks, you were a great help'

'Was that sarcasm?'

He applies a poker face 'Maybe'

'Well I'm sorry I helped you figure out why you can't find your book when you interrupted me from my book I was reading!' I stand up, arms flaring.

'Well excuse me, I don't know what your problem is, but I bet it's hard to pronounce' Oh, he's just baiting me now.

'Well, most of the things you say you probably said them without thinking, the way you do most things.'

'yeah, well I always wondered why people bang their heads against a wall, then I met you and it's part of my daily routine!'

'No wonder you act as if you have a brain too small to even fill half a teaspoon measurement cup, you don't just act like it, it's actually that small, and decreasing daily, apparently.'

'Nice perfume, but must you marinate in it?'

'The middles ages called, they said they were missing their town idiot, I'm glad I can tell them I found you'

'Girls like you are like trees, they take 50 years to get over themselves'

'Well God created man…. Then had a better idea'

'It takes skill to trip over flat surfaces.' Really? He's going to talk about my clumsiness? Really?

'I don't get it...boys think girls are so complicated. Haven't they met themselves?'

Ryo cuts in: 'Woah there you two, can't you have your lover's quarrel elsewhere?'

Ever since Ryo got this idea that we were going to go out, he's been pushing us to our wits end. One moment it's: "You two are perfect for each other" then it's "Can't you two just go out already?". Does he ever stop? I've heard silence is golden, but duct tape is silver and it's looking like a fantastic option right now!

Then I got a brilliantly evil idea, I decided to flip the tables.

'So Ryo, where's Emi?' He goes bright red, Bull's Eye!

Erick catches my evil glint and goes along with my plan. We both know that Ryo's been crazy about Emi ever since they met, but he's too stubborn to tell her he likes her.

'Yeah, didn't she say that she wanted to go to that new ice cream shop after school?' Erick asks.

'Sh sh she….She did?' Ryo stutters, still tomato red in the face.

'Yeah…' I look at Erick 'And didn't she say she wanted someone to go with her? I can't go cause I'm going to the library to study, and Kasumi said she needed to feed her rabbits at home so she can't go'

...….Nothing. I nudge Erick sharply with my elbow. He whispers softly and "OH"

'Ye … Yeah! And I can't go cause…uhhh…..cause…..AH! Cause I have basketball practice after school' Smooth Erick, real smooth.

Luckily Ryo doesn't notice we made up our excuses and mutters 'Uh, yeah, and I uhh, got ….. umm…something!...after school, so obviously I can't go.' Hahahaha, yeah, suuuuuure you do.

'Poor Emi, she has no one to go with her' I pretend to cry a little. Maybe I'm over doing this act a little bit? But it's too much fun! Oh well.

'yeah…..you know what, I'll cancel my…..uhh…thing, and I'LL go with Emi!' He says proudly. I have to clench my jaws together to stop myself from laughing my head off. I look to Erick, and I can see the idiot hunched over with his hand over his mouth and he's shaking with laughter. I role my eyes. Pathetic. Mental note to self: Staple Erick to the school gate with only underwear and write "I brought this upon myself" on his chest with a large black pen.

Anyway….

Ryo gives us a weird look. I quickly resume my act.

'Good idea, you go now, I think she'll be leaving soon'

Yeah, ok, I'll be off, bye guys' He runs off

I wave at him until he is out of sight, then quickly send Emi a text that she should go to the new ice cream shop after school. Ok so I might have set this up, but hey, if it weren't for me, these two will never get together.

Erick doesn't even bother to hide his laughter anymore and burst out laughing like a hyena. I role my eyes again. Idiot. He falls off the step we were sitting on and starts rolling around on the floor while still laughing. I smack my forehead with my palm. Kill me now and stop beating around the bush with this idiot, would you?

He stops laughing and sits back on the step. Silence passes by.

'You're really good at arguing, you know?' He starts

'Thanks, you too, you really held your ground there' I nudge him softly.

He chuckles. 'Yeah, I thought you were going to kill for a minute there'

I chuckle too. 'Don't flatter yourself, if I wanted you dead, you would already be.'

He laughs out loud now. I just smile. We sit without talking for a bit, but it's a comfortable silence, like we were just enjoying each other company.

Then a face pops into my head. I decide this is the best time to ask him.

'Erick'

'Hm?'

'….' I inhale softly.

'Who's Mimi?'


	6. Chapter 6

Erick's point of view- #Friends...#

'Who's Mimi, huh? Well... uhm..

Emi comes: 'Hey, what's up!'

'Well nothing, we were just...'

realization in 3... 2... 1...

Double poker face

'WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE EMI?' Cordelia stands up and nearly shouts Emi apart..

'What do you mean?' Emi quickly answers

'DIND'T YOU GET MY MESSAGE?'

I happily enjoy the show, too bad I don't have some popcorn with me

'What message?'

Cordelia gives herself a facepalm: 'Emi, look on your phone...'-_-

'Ohh.. this message.., haha sorry, I had my phone on silent' Emi makes a cheshire cat grin

As soon as I see Cordelia's intentions, I quickly grab her and hold her in place, while:

'LET ME GO! LET ME KILL HER AAAAAH!' I feel like I'm holding a wild beast in my arms!

'Ok,.. calm down.. !' Emi says. He reads the message and asks:

'Haha you're so angry because I didn't go to an ice cream shop? really?'

'Well..,uhm... they have really good ice cream there!' Cordelia responds

After hearing Cordelia's response I jump out of my seat and start laughing:

'HAHAHAHAHA...' I couldn't hold myself! 'hahaha..' *SLAP* Cordelia slaps me '..ouch,..uhm yeah Cordelia's right you should check out that ice cream shop.., yeah,..definitely..' *Still rubbing my head*

Emi gives us a "I'm not so convinced" look and changes the topic:

'Do you know that Saturday is the Earth's day?' Emi asks Cordelia

'Yes I do! Our school is organizing a school camping trip!'

Emi responds: 'Yes I know, I already joined, would you two want to join?'

'Well I don't know..' I say, and while I was thinking about it, Ryo cuts in:

'She's not at the...' I think he had a heart failure..

'Hi.. Emi' Ryo tries to make first contact with Emi

Emi responds: 'Oh,uhm.. Hi Ryo, I was asking these two lovers if they wanna join the school's camping trip'

*I'm holding the beast again*

'Well they should, I AM coming and so do Kaito and Kasumi' Ryo says

'So what do you say Cordelia?' While asking, Emi gives Cordelia's a few sharp nudges

She eventually accepts: 'Ok OK! I'll come'

While Cordelia accepts, I notice a tiny blush on her face... waaait.. what's going on?  
Emi and Cordelia are best friends meaning that = Emi blushes=she likes Ryo ; Cordelia blushes=she likes someone!

Maybe she likes Kaito.. hmm...

While I'm trying to figure what they are planning I wake up with a hand on my shoulder:

It's Ryo's hand: 'Hey Erick, call me when you leave the house, Saturday, ok?'

'But I haven't said anything about coming!' I say

He evilly smiles and says: 'Yeah I know but Cordelia's coming and so do you'

I say: 'Yeah, Emi's coming as well,.. and so do you..' He loses his thoughts after this response

After our 3 remaning classes, me and Kaito go and play basketball while Cordelia and Emi go shopping

How did she find out about Mimi?  
Why am I so curious who's Cordelia's crush?

The conclusion is that I start having some interest in her. I think I like her! Gosh!  
Is it that obvious?

End of chapter 6


	7. Chapter 7

Cordelia's point of view.

It's Friday. The day before Earth day. I've been looking forward to the camping trip ever since the school announced we were going. I'm going to try fishing and I'm going to swim and we are going to have a huge barbecue. But mostly, I've been looking forward to the trip, because it means 3 days and 2 nights with Erick. Is it alright for a tall girl to fall for a short guy? I'll have to ask Kasumi and Emi.

It's 9:00am and I'm waiting at the school's front gate. Each class is going somewhere different for the school's camping trip. Our class is going to a forest near a river.

On the bus there, I talked to Emi and Kasumi:

'I got it! You should confess before the end of the trip!'

'WHAT?! EMI, ARE YOU CRAZY?!'

'Why not?'

'B-b-b-be-be-because!'

'Oh come on, you can do it, it'll be fine! Right Kasumi?'

'I agree. Plus Kaito told me that Erick might feel the same way about you.'

'Eh? Really?'

They both nod.

'Okay! I'll do it!' I smile

Then I just realized.

'Kasumi, do you like Kaito?'

Kasumi goes bright red.

I look to Emi. She nods. Then we both squeal and squish Kasumi into a hug.

Long story short: Lots of laughing and squealing with me and Emi promising to help Kasumi confess to Kaito on the school trip as well.

We arrive at the camping site a few hours later. All three of us had fallen asleep after our conversation.

We wake up and set up camp. Then, since we had a free period. We decided to go swimming with a few other girls while the guys went to go find some wood.

I was having trouble with my swimming costume since it was a bikini I had borrowed from Emi (She convinced me to wear one, what was I thinking?) and I felt very self-conscious about all the skin I was showing. I was blushing from embarrassment, when Emi decided to get guys to see what they thought about our swim suits.

I was still fiddling in my swimming costume when Erick walked into our tent.

Erick what do you think of Coco's swimming costume?' Emi asked him with a huge grin on her face.

I held my breath.

'….' Nothing.

Way to make a girl feel better. -_-

'What? Cat got your tongue?' I tease him.

His face softens.

'You look really good.'

I smile at his response. 'Thanks'

'Ryo, what do you think of mine?' Emi twirls around for him to see.

He goes bright red and stutters out his answer.

Erick punches him in the shoulder and Ryo calms down.

'You look fantastic' He winks at her.

Emi blushes.

WAIT WHAT?! EMI BLUSHES?!

I stare at Emi's face with wide eyes and a gawking mouth.

Then she giggles a 'thanks' and I drag her out and Kasumi out of the tent to the lake we were going to swim in.

'EMI DID YOU BLUSH?!'

She turns red again.

I start laughing. I always knew Emi liked Ryo, but she would never give him a hint that she did, so blushing was out of the question. Maybe Emi is falling in love with Ryo?

We swim for around an hour then go bake to the camp and start preparing food for the barbecue.

Since this meant that both the guys and girls were going to be busy for the next hour or so. Emi and I urged Kasumi to confess now.

A while later, Kasumi and Kaito came back holding hands and with faces so red, I thought they were going to get a fever. They separate and Kasumi comes towards us.

'Well?' Emi and I ask her

She goes even redder (is that possible?) and nods.

And…. Cue squealing/ laughing and hugging.

At the barbecue Emi grabs my hand when I was talking to another girl about gymnastics and drags me towards Erick. As you know, this is where I start panicking and I try desperately to Emi from taking me towards him. Aka: I start clawing at the ground and begging Kasumi to stop her.

'Cordelia, stop being so difficult, come on! You said you would!'

'I know I know! But I just didn't think it would be this soon!'

Sure enough. The ridiculous sight of us drew the attention of everyone close, including Erick, who just raised his eyebrow at us in amusement. Now I'm even more desperate not to confess to him.

But sure enough, Emi has other plans.

'Erick, Coco has something to talk to you about.' She shouts at him.

I freeze and gawk at her.

Unfortunately Erick realizes what I'm about to do to her and runs over to me, picks me up and drags me away from her with me clawing at the air in her direction around his head.

Emi stands there snickering with Ryo watching the scene with a worried face and Kasumi and Kaito holding hands further away.

Erick puts me down far away from the barbecue but you can still hear the talking of the students.

'So, what's up?'

I plonk myself down on the ground, turn my head away from him and pout.

Erick sighs and sits down next me.

'Right, who am I killing this time?'

I laugh and he smiles at me.

'Finally, a smile'

I bite my lip and take a deep breath.

'Erick.'

'Yup?'

'I love you'

He stares at me.

'I love you too' He smiles at me.

I stare at him in shock. He feels that same as me?

'You are one of my best friends. Of course I love you.'

Wait what?

'Hahahaha, I know we argue a lot, but that's just us. We are still friends.'

'No, wait Erick, I really love you, as in I am IN LOVE with you.'

He stops laughing and looks at me.

Then burst out laughing again.

'HAHAHA, Stop, please you are killing me, AHAHAHAHA! Aaaah, you really got me there.'

He stands up.

'Good one. Haha, come on, let's go back to camp.'

When we reach camp, Erick says goodbye and I go talk to Emi and Kasumi.

'Cordelia! There you are! How did it go?' Emi asks me.

I start crying. 'He thought I was joking. He didn't even think it was possible I would fall in love with him. He doesn't even see me as a girl. I'm just a friend he argues with from time to time.'

Emi hugs me as I cry.

'Hey, come on. Cheer up. You just have to get him to realize you love him. I'm definitely sure he feels the same way.'

'Ha! That stupid Chibi-chan can't even tell the difference between his finger and his toe. I doubt he'd be able to tell I love him.'

After the barbecue, we split up into 2 groups for a haunted race. The goal is that the first pair to grab a flag from the end of the path and to make it back to camp first. Of course, it's not going to be that easy. There are a few students stationed around the path to scare the pairs and delay them.

We were split into girl/boy pairs for safety. However, because we were outnumbered in the girl department, I was switched from the racing team to the scaring team.

I am dressed as the ghost of a woman. My costume is complete with souls attached to stick on my back and with blood dripping down from my face to my stomach and on my hands. Yay! … Not!

Kasumi and Kaito were paired as well as Emi and Ryo. Ryo has been bright red in the face ever since he pulled Emi's name from a bag. Erick is going with this other girl from our class.

If you are wondering if I'm still sad. I'm not. But the bloodshot I got from crying earlier really put my costume off the hook.

After an hour the race is finished. Emi and Ryo won (not surprised since Emi is ruthless when it comes to races, I just feel sorry for Ryo who had to experience that.) and I was still moping around in my costume.

'Hey! CordeLIAAAAAAHHHHH! You gave me a heart attack! SHEESH You are SCARY!' What are you still doing in costume?'

'Oh sorry Emi, I'll change now, I drag my feet towards our tent.'

'Hey Cordelia, did you know that everyone's talking about your character. They were raving about how you were so scary you didn't even seem human. I even heard you crawled around like you had no bones in your body. Not surprising you can do that since you took gymnastics for so long.'

'mm'

'Hey are you listening to me?'

'uhuh'

She sighs. 'Cheer up Coco.'

She smiles at me, and I smile back.

'Come on, they guys have set up a bonfire, let's go.'

'umm, no thanks, I'm too tall so it'll just be awkward. But you go and have fun. I bet Ryo's been dying to dance with you all day' I wink at her.

She goes red. 'yeah yeah. See you later!'

'Bye!'

I change and leave the tent. I see Kasumi dancing with Kaito and Emi dancing with Ryo. I look for Erick, but I don't see him. I sigh and walk away from the bonfire.

I keep walking, not focusing on where I'm going, until something shines in my eye and I look up from the ground to see a huge beautiful lake. I walk closer and sit on a rock near the water.

Does Erick really feel the same, or that just wishful thinking from Emi?

I sigh really loudly.

'ERICK YOU IDIOT! YOU STUPID DAFT BLIND MIDGET!' I shout to nothing.

I feel my anger bottle inside me. I frown and take a huge breath.

'I'LL NEVER GIVE UP! JUST YOU WAIT! BAKA!'


	8. Chapter 8- Maybe this time

Erick's point of view- #Maybe this time

2 Weeks have passed since that "incident". Cordelia seems fine though, maybe she's just a bit upset but not in a really obvious way, strange...  
She reminds me of that girl, the one who embarassed me, a long time ago. Is she trying to do the same?

She seems pretty innocent, but I know how girls can be, I don't think I can trust one too soon, even if I feel a bit sorry for Cordelia...AAHH! I don't even know what I want!  
This is definitely a trap, I just know it!

Today I find myself at school in the same seat, in the same boring,too easy english class.  
Everything is normal.., but wait..WHAT IS RYO DOING!  
RYO IS FLIRTING WITH EMI! HE BASTARTD!

HOW CAN MY BEST FRIEND FALL SO EASILY IN THE WOMENS TRAP! I'LL SAVE YOU MY FRIEND!

While I spy on my best friend all day, I realised that this is worse than I thought!  
THEY ARE MORE THAN FRIENDS! I HAVE TO SAVE HIM BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!

After our last class I spy them and I catch them preparing for a first goodbye kiss.  
When I realise the situation, my hole class transforms into a battlefield full of obstacles

You can imagine me in slow motion, running through my colegues and throwing myself on the school benches to reach them in time.

*slow motion, me: "Nooooooooooooo"

*slow motion ends* followed by two kissing sounds

With my eyes closed I can feel 2 pairs of lips, one kissing my left cheek and one kissing my right cheek

IT WAS A SUCCESS! YES!

My head was literally between theirs! haha you should have seen their confused faces!

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING ERICK?" asks Ryo

"I'm trying to protect my best friend!" I say

"From what?" he asks again

"From woman domination! Don't you see they're trying to conquer us one by one! Kaito is already a lost cause!"

*SLAP

Emi slaps my head

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" I ask Emi while rubbing my head

When I glance at her I see THE DEVIL ITSELF! I swear those are flames around her!

"YOU RUINED OUR MOMENT YOU BAKA! YOU'RE SO GOING TO PAY FOR THIS" flames coming out of her eyes now, ok I should better run, fast!

"Calm down beauty, you don't need to be so angry, we'll have time for better moments"  
says Ryo

Emi calms down and slightly blushes, wait, Emi BLUSHES?! This is worse than I thought

While Emi goes and talks to Cordelia, Ryo grabs my shoulder(like he always does)  
and whispers in my ear:

"Next time I don't think I'll be able to calm her down, not before she shreds you into pieces."

"You like to live dangerous huh?" I say

He responds: "Haha, not as much as you do. Cordelia is coming, good luck my friend,  
you're going to need it"

"Say wha..?!" *BANG *knockout I almost lose consciousness

"YOU BAKA! I WAS DYING TO SEE THEM KISS AND YOU RUINED EVERYTHING!" And I thought Emi was a beast

"I was trying to sav.." *the beast unleashes, jumpes on me and almost kills me instantly

While I was screaming for help everybody was packing up to leave...

"Hey Cordelia, are you coming?" asks Kasumi

"I'm coming just let me finish this idiot off"

"Haha you two are really good for a couple" says Kaito while waiting for Kasumi

We both stop, it feels like time itself stops. We both turn our heads towards kaito with a *if you say that again you're going to die* look

While I was trying to lift myself up, I accidentally put my hand on top of hers(she was on top of me) and when she realises that my hand is on hers, she falls and hits a bench with her head

I still like her, that fact never changed. But can I really go through that again?  
Do I really want to try my luck ..again? Can my heart really undergo that dissappointment,  
...again?  
I really felt bad for her when I told her that we're nothing more than friends, I really did, but I couldn't do anything about it. I don't even knew her that well.

Ryo and Kaito are going blind with those girls, that's what I don't want to do, ever. I mean, how can you love someone you barely know?

Maybe she deserves a chance, we just have to take it slow, I don't wanna feel that way, again.  
I hope this not a mistake

"Are you alright?" I ask

"Yeah, I think so"

While the others were outside the class waiting for us, I thought this the perfect time to apologize, yes, after 2 yes I felt like a jerk all this time, if you're asking.

"Hey listen, I'm sorry for what happened 2 weeks ago. It was too fast, I don't even know you well enough." I say

"oh"

I continue: "Uhm...I've been thinking about it and...um... the only way is to take it slow. I have to admit I do posses some interest in you, but not anything big. Again I'm sorry, I can imagine what you felt that moment.."

"No worries, I'm fine now. Uhm..and.. thanks for apologizing.. I totally didn't expect that.  
Maybe you're right. But you're still an idiot, Haha"

I smile. Seeing her laugh again makes me smile.

Maybe this time..


	9. Chapter 9 - Alien Abduction

Cordelia's point of view

It's been 2 weeks since I built up the courage to tell Erick my feelings….to be friend-zoned. -_- …well technically friend-zoned.

But I tend to have an evil streak every now and then, so I decided to… hmm…. How to put it delicately? Oh yes! Make mince meat out him…in the nicest way possible, obviously (innocent smile) …..not!

Anyway, after I obliterated Erick yesterday. I made sure that he would not get in the way of Ryo and Emi's first kiss….. easier said than done. Erick somehow manages to stop them at the last minute every time. There are 214 nerves in the human body, and he has managed to get on every single one of mine!

Just then a skinny, short, stick-like boy burst into the classroom and screamed: 'ABDUCTION!'

Then got squashed to the floor by a large boy three times his size. There was a moment of silence because suddenly the large boy started to shake and a hand burst out from under him, then part of a face: it was the skinny boy! He was still alive. He opened his mouth, and after a moment's paused, barely above a whisper, said: 'alien abduction'

Every went back to what they were doing. I dropped the body I was using at the time(strangling Erick) and went over to help him. I pushed the boulder (the large boy) over and helped the skinny boy up, I then dusted him off and dragged him off to the infirmary. I could hear in the distance Erick shout 'NOOOOOO! She's dragging him off to her lair to kill him! So long my poor unsuspecting friend! So long! You'll be missed!' ….What a dramatic idiot.

At the infirmary, I sat the boy down on a chair and went to the medicine cabinet, got out some disinfectant and a cotton ball and started to dab it on the boy, who introduced himself as Haru. Haru turned out to a sweet boy, but a bit too obsessed with aliens.

'So Haru, what is this alien abduction you were talking about a few minutes ago?'

He paused. Then spoke. 'A member of the space club disappeared and hasn't shown up for a week. At first, we thought he was staking out an alien sighting spot, but he should have returned by now.'

'hmmmm, have you tried his house?'

'I did, but his mother said he wasn't in.'

I pondered for a minute. 'I got it! I'll help you!'

His eyes went huge and ….wait…..they were sparkling?

'THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!'

And I know just the person to help me. (insert evil laugh)

…...

'WHY ME? OH THE GODS HATE ME! WHY ME?' Erick exclaimed.

'You should feel honoured that you were the first person I thought of to help this poor, innocent, sad, little boy.'

Of course he was the first person I thought of, if he joins me, then Ryo and Emi will have some time alone…meaning…with Erick out of the way….they will finally have their first kiss. Of course, I have already instructed Kasumi to film it. I'm a genius, I know.

'Ok guys, Let's check the guy's house, and if he's not there let's check out the sight he was surveying. Meet up in front of the school as soon as school's finished. Ready? Let's go!'

The relationship between Erick and me might have taken a huge step back, but maybe, one day, we could develop a really strong friendship that could turn out to be romantic. Who knows? For now, let's just focus on finding an alien-obsessed teenager.


	10. Chapter 10- Detectives part 1

Erick's point of view- Detectives part 1

"WHY ME? OH THE GODS HATE ME! WHY ME?" Why am I doing this? Are we really 10 year olds to go and play "Find the abducted guy"?, REALLY?

"You should feel honoured that you were the first person I thought of to help this poor,  
innocent, sad, little boy." says Cordelia

"Ok guys, Let's check the guy's house, and if he's not there let's check out the sight he was surveying. Meet up in front of the school as soon as school's finished. Ready? Let's go!"

*Haru leaves

Yeah, of course. Wait...

"Waiaait...Are you trying to get me separated from Ryo?"

"Uhm.. noo...(cheshire cat grin) Ok I do want that. Just leave them have their time alone, please." she says

"But who am I going to play basketball with! He is going to fall for that GIRL!"

"Haha, he already did, can't you see that?..anyway, maybe I can help you with the basketball problem" *she smiles

"You can play basketball? Really? Why didn't you say so earlier?"

She can play basketball, really? Well do to her height I can imagine that. Who wouldn't want a tall player like her. But she's a girl, how can a girl play basketball?

"Because I'm not good at it, and I can feel quite embarrassed sometimes. I know how to play it. I used to play for my school's team when I was in the 7'th grade. Wierd huh?" she says

"Very"

Surprised by my answer she starts yelling "WHAT? YOU... I WAS BEING HONEST WITH YOU!"

"Me too" *evil smile

"AAAAAHHHHH I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!"

"Haha there's no need for that. I was just kidding. Very impressive"

"Well, I'm still going to kick your ass at this game." *she winks at me

"Hahaha, we'll see." *I smile

After school we go and search for that kid. We first go to his home and find out that he still isn't there.  
Hmm

DETECTIVE MODE ACTIVATED

When we talked to the missing guy's mother, she said that he went missing a week ago and even police didn't succeed in finding him. Ok this is getting serious, sort of.

"Hmm ok Haru this is a very interesting case. We should search for some clues.  
Start by looking into his backyard."

"HAHAHA! What are you know a detective?" asks Cordelia, very amused"

I answer "Not any detective! I'm chief detective" followed by a wink

Haru rapidly responds "Ok detective Erick I'm going to search the backyard"

"Good. Detective Cordelia you stay here and help me find some clues." I say

While laughing, she answers "Haha ok...uhm.. detective Erick"

After a few hours...

"Erick there's nothing here" says Cordelia

"There has to be something..."

While we were preparing to call Haru, he yells: "Hey guys I found something!"

Me and Cordelia answer in the same time: "What?!" We both rush to Haru

"It's a map!" says Haru

"Where did you find that?" I ask, surprised

He answeres: "In the trash can!"

Me and Cordelia do a pokerface expresion

"It leads to the site where he was staking" says Haru

"Ooook... you should go and take a shower. We will continue our search tomorrow" says Cordelia. she seems tired, so do I.

END OF PART 1


	11. Chapter 11 - Detectives part 2

Cordelia's point of view

I wake up the next day and leap out of bed. I'm really excited about this missing boy case. Who would have thought? Not me, that's for sure, but I still wanted to help Haru. It was a great idea to drag Erick along. He made a rather boring search into a really exciting fun experience. But I'd rather never go mute, then let him find that out.

Anyway, after school, Haru, Erick and myself meet up at the front gate and head towards the site on the map. Haru (remember! Only 1 year younger than Erick and myself) kept wanting to lead the way, but his map reading skills were so bad, me and Erick teamed up to take the map and lead the way ourselves after the third attempt Haru tried. It went a little something like this:

'Ok! It's this way' says Haru pointing left.

Half an hour later…

'Ummmm, Haru? I don't think there's a scrap garage on the map.' I start

'uuhh yeah…. I think we went the wrong way' Erick adds.

'oh, OH! Oops, sorry! My bad, wrong way. It's this way! I'm sure!' says Haru

'You mean sure as in 100% sure way, or as in a I-don't-really-know-but-I-feel-it-in-my-bones kind of sure?' I ask, a little worried.

Haru had already left. Erick and I share a worried look, then both shrug and run after him.

2 hours later…

Sooooo, after 2 hours, you can kind of imagine how I was beginning to feel and Erick had sensed it so he was doing his best to prevent the ticking bomb that I was becoming.

Haru turns around and scratches his head.

'ummm, sorry guys, it looks like we went the wrong way again' He says

Erick slowly turns his head to look at me and his eyes immediately grow wide. He knew I had snapped and that someone's soul was going to go flying off to the spirit world. Erick starts to slowly creep backwards as far away from me as he can while I slowly walk towards Haru.

I stand just in front of Haru and pause. Then I snatch the map from his hands turn around and start to walk away. Haru then starts to whine and scurries after me. Erick, who had momentarily disappeared, appears from behind a tree and grabs Haru into a bind. Then Erick picks Haru up, throws him over his shoulder and follows me.

We arrive at our destination in 10 minutes.

Haru's friend was supposed to be staking a farmer's field which had the typical 'crop circles' known to alien fanatics worldwide.

I walk into the tall wheat grass first, then Erick follows with a now limp Haru still dangling from his shoulder. I then arrive at a blank patch of the wheat. My brain then goes into scientific mode and I begin to observe my surroundings. Erick puts Haru down and goes back into detective mode. I was in a mode of my own, so I kind of tuned him out. I then hear Erick say: 'Guys, I found something!'

Haru and I run towards him.

'What is it?' asks Haru

'It's a rear brake.' I answer.

'ooooooh!' Haru responds.

Then a moment of silence.

'What?' He asks again

I roll my eyes.

'It's a rear brake of a bicycle' I respond again

'Oooooh!' Haru exclaimes.

Erick facepalms and I roll my eyes again.

'I got it!' Erick suddenly exclaims shocking both me and Haru.

I raise my eyebrow at him and he laughs.

'Ok Mr Detective, what did you realise?' I put my hands on my hips.

'There's a bicycle repair shop just near here! He probably went there.'

'Of course! Good work Detective Erick' I punch him on the shoulder, hard.

He winks at me and I blush bright red. I immediately turn towards the bicycle shop and start to speed walk.

'ummm, Cordelia, it's in the other direction…..' Erick calls after me

I immediately turn around and head in the other direction.

A few minutes later, we arrive at shop.

The little bell on the door rings as we enter the shop.

Erick walks up to the shop owner and asks him if he had seen a boy our age.

I saw a back door in the shop and snuck into it while Erick was keeping the owner occupied.

I entered a dark room and turned on the light. I t was a large room and there were many large shelves. I slowly explored my surroundings and then I saw a light in the corner of the room, I headed towards it.

I saw a boy wielding at a workstation.

'Hi!' I said to the boy, he turned around and looked at me.

'Do you know a boy named Haru?' I asked him

Haru then came up from behind me and exclaimed: 'Michiru!'

'I turned towards Haru and asked him if he knew this boy, and he said he was the guy we were looking for.'

Haru ran up to the boy and hugged him.

'Looks like a job well done.' Erick suddenly says behind my shoulder, startling me.

Erick laughs.

I scowl at him. But then smile myself.

A job well done indeed.

…

'Come on guys! Just one more shot and then we win!'

Erick and I were playing basketball, only, we were on opposite teams and we were playing a match against each other.

We were currently tied. And there were 3 minutes left on the clock.

'5 . 4 . 3 . 2 . 1…..'

I threw the ball and… just missed the net as the timer stopped.

'It's a tie!' someone calls.

I collapse onto the floor completely exhausted.

Erick comes up to me and sits next to my heaving copse.

'Nice work there. I'm impressed you managed to hold your ground.'

I laugh, but it comes out like a wheeze.

'You're not so bad yourself'

He smiles and winks at me.

I laugh again.

It's official. I am falling in love with this infuriating, yet handsome midget. HELP!


End file.
